Healthy food to put weight on...

sylphraven

Anyone know of any recipes to help do this healthily?

Its not for me but my 8 year old son. He's always been very thin but due to illness a couple of months ago he lost a lot of weight & shrunk his stomach - he still isnt showing any signs of putting any back on.

Also, due to the schools pushing the "Jamie Oliver" ideals he is now very concerned about what he eats.

Dr has just said let him eat whatever he wants as well as lots of Bananas for the potassium, problem being he suffers from IBS so cant eat whatever he wants,& he dislikes bananas.

Anyone know any recipes to help put weight on healthily (i.e put weight on, not cause a heart attack,lol) or recipes that contain banana but disguises the taste?

angie_loves_veg

My initial thoughts are to gradually increase his intake of startchy carbs (pasta, bread, rice, cereals, potatoes) etc, and very slightly increase his intake of fats (extra pieces of cheese, back to full fat milk if he's on SS, full fat yogurt etc)

I imagine that if a gain in weight is to be healthy, it should be slow and gradual. My daughter is diabetic, and we have to carb count all her food. A small increase of only 10-15g carb per meal would make a gradual difference I am sure. In real terms, that is 1 med slice of bread or small pot fromage frais or an apple etc. added to each main meal. Or add a fruit smoothie to breakfast (could you hide a banana in there?!)

Why not continue to let him eat what he enjoys, and simply try to gradually increase the portions of the carbohydrate element of the meal. Or add a regular, small, healthy snack mid morning and mid afternoon.

I hope this is helpful - I do not know much about IBS (alot about Diabetes though!!) so I apologise if you cannot do these things due to the limits that IBS puts on his diet.

sylphraven

Thanks Ang, you make a lot of sense.

His IBS is mainly in relation to an allergy of potatoes, thats pretty much all he can eat. Also means he has to have extra fruit & such.

Uniscots97

I hated bananas as a child but my Mum used to use the softer ones and mash them with some stewed apples and a little brown sugar and serve on toast. Would he eat that? I don't remember being able to taste the banana.

morganb

I thought avocados also contained a lot of potassium?
What about nuts? Brazil nuts are calorific but very rich in selenium, etc.
Would he taste banana in a smoothie?

Also peanuts roasted with the skins on are rich in potassium but obviously you need to check ref nut allergies, etc.

Avocados ... that means loads of guacamole ... loads of mexican fajita evenings! Easy to mush up and put in wraps for lunchboxes, too.

Penelope_Penguin

Hello. I have similar problems. My DH comes from a slim family, and DD especially has difficulty keeping up her weight.

I give both of mine 1/2 pt of full fat milk morning and night. They also like smoothies - full fat yogurt, and a handful of fruit (strawberry, raspberry, peach, tinned fruit, etc). They grate a pile of cheese (cheddar or parmesan) onto pasta. Rice pudding or porridge, made with full fat milk, and extra milk powder (or cream) in it. Thickly spread butter on fresh bread is pretty irresistable, too!

A nurse friend also recommended Complan or the like, for when DD was ill and became skin and bone. We never had to resort to it, though.

Try this thread - Faddy Eaters - for other ideas.

Edit - DD has just got in from school and is tucking into Welsh cakes and a thick layer of butter.

HTH, Penny. x

thriftmonster

When my sister was ill and lost a lot of weight, I used to make her chocolate flavoured Complan and whizz a banana into that - the choc flavour disguised it. I thinkl you muight even be able to get your doctor to prescribe something like complan.

Idiophreak

I lost a load of weight in hospital when I was a kid and the dr gave me this stuff to drink, a bit like the lucozade isotonic things...meant I could keep my weight up without eating.

Also, when I was older (not sure how healthy this is for a child...) I used to drink slim fast to put on muscle/weight...a can of the milkshake with breakfast gives you plenty of protein, vitamins, minerals etc...

bluekp

When my brother was in hospital having chemo, the doctors said the best thing he could eat to build himself up again was........big macs!

They said they have all the vitamins, minerals, protein etc that your body needs!!

JoeyG

he sounds very much like me

i have a fast metabolism, so need to eat little and often (although I tend to eat alot and often!)

I would agree with full-fat milk, yoghurt etc... also lots of good oils like olive oil or and nuts (if hes not allergic)... its also good to eat last thing night as long as its mostly protein and oils.

Does he do sports?... some underweight people respond well to plenty of exercise

Little_Miss_Saver

When I lost a lot of weight through illness, my surgeon told me to eat a high protein diet to gain a few extra pounds.

LMS xx